China crisis 'not a worry' on campus in Lancashire

Sixteen UCLan students and staff have been told they are still welcome on campus despite returning from China in the past few days.
UCLan says it is in close contact with Public Health England over the risks.UCLan says it is in close contact with Public Health England over the risks.
UCLan says it is in close contact with Public Health England over the risks.

The group - 11 undergraduates and five consultant teaching staff - have flown back from exchange visits and work placements in the virus-hit country and have been advised they do not need to be in isolation.

The University of Central Lancashire says it is following advice from Public Health England over Coronavirus which has so far claimed almost 500 lives in China over the past 12 days.

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“If students are not suffering from flu-like symptoms and they haven’t come from the Wuhan area there is no need to self-isolate,” explained a spokesman.

“None of these students or colleagues have been in the Wuhan area of China.”

UCLan says it had 12 students in China and six staff when the outbreak began. They were based in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - all at least 500 miles from Wuhan.

One student has yet to return and one teacher is on the way back to the UK.

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It says the university “continues to monitor the current situation regarding the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus.

“We are in close contact with Public Health England who assess the current risk to the UK as moderate and we continue to highlight the current PHE precautionary measures to the university community.

“In the past week we have been in regular contact with both students and colleagues directly to support their return to the UK.

“Unless advised by PHE, it is business as usual for all our UK campuses with lectures continuing to run.

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"The university is working on business continuity plans to ensure that students can learn remotely should the situation evolve and there is a requirement to stay at home.”

UCLan has partnerships with seven universities in China and has thousands of Chinese students based in Lancashire.